Charter schools are accountable: Letter to the Editor

By Other Voiceswww.cleveland.com
February 20, 2017 at 11:43 AM, updated February 20, 2017 at 11:44 AM

As the parent of a charter school student, I am writing in response to a recent letter to the editor: "Charter schools take away public money while their owners give money - to the politicians."

The writer's "fact" that every school district in Ohio loses money to for-profit charter schools is simply untrue. Ohio's public charter schools are not-for-profit entities and are all accountable to not-for-profit governing boards.

Albert Gabel clearly doesn't understand that state education funding is intended to support students - not districts or individual schools. And he misleads readers by failing to mention that charter schools receive significantly less funding than traditional public schools.

While it is true that some charter school advocates exercise their right to make campaign contributions, it's only fair to acknowledge that the same thing is true for the powerful teachers unions that financially support anti-charter policy-makers.

Some of the district superintendents who Gabel claims are afraid to complain about funding lost to charter school students have, in fact, been relentless critics. Their efforts would be better directed toward understanding why so many parents make the difficult decision to withdraw their children from district schools and enroll them in successful charter schools.

Constellation Schools: Puritas Community Elementary does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age in its programs and activities and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies: